Amorim pinpoints moment moment when Man Utd lost game as he doesn't blame keeper

Ruben Amorim pinpointed where it went wrong for Manchester United and said they did not lose because of clangers from keeper Altay Bayindir.

United went down 4-3 in the League Cup quarter-final match away to Tottenham.

Bayindir, making just his fourth United appearance, fumbled Pedro Porro’s shot into Dominic Solanke’s path for Spurs’ opener in the 15th minute.

And conceded directly from a Son Heung-min corner for the decisive fourth goal.

Although Bayindir protested that Spurs substitute Lucas Bergvall had fouled him on the corner, contact appeared minimal.

When asked if Bayindir admitted to his mistakes, Amorim said: "He doesn’t have to do that. He has to focus, and we will see the game and improve every player of this team.

"We win together, we lose together. You already know it’s not the individual, it’s the team. We could win even with all these goals in the game, so let’s focus on that."

Amorim highlighted a critical lapse early in the second half when Tottenham scored 47 seconds after the restart to double their lead.

Solanke’s second goal in the 54th minute put Spurs 3-0 ahead, but United rallied to reduce the deficit to 3-2 before Son’s late corner sealed the result.

Reflecting on the match, Amorim said: "We controlled the possession. I think we were not the best team in all of the game, but for most parts, I think we were the best team.

"We had the same situation in the first half that is similar to the second and third goals of Tottenham, and that made a difference.

"We disconnected for eight minutes, and it was really hard to recover from that. But then the lads did a great job to recover.

"We were so near the draw, so near, and that could have made the difference because we still had time to win the game.

"But then the fourth goal was really hard for us. We managed to respond, but in the end, it’s not enough, and we are out of the cup."*

Amorim also addressed the tactical challenges his team faced: "If you look at the game, if you forget the long balls from Tottenham, it’s really hard to have a lot of pictures with five in the back.

"We are pressing high—it’s impossible to press high with five in the back. I know you are used to looking at the system and saying five at the back, but in my view, it’s three defenders.

"The disconnect is as simple as suffering a goal and then not managing to have long possession to calm the game down.

"You felt that we suffered the goal, then the ball goes to the middle, we continue to play our way, but we lost a lot of balls near our box with the team all open, and we were really nervous in that moment.

"One long ball, we suffer the third goal. Then we managed to calm down, push again, and score three goals.

"Of course, we suffered, but when you suffer [a] goal, you have to have long possession to calm down and stay in the game, and we couldn’t do it."